Atheist Nexus2018-03-20T04:24:45ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheisthttp://api.ning.com:80/files/kZzo8PgK6neQN4AfxW4EG8lio8WXn0XSgqGXhrjLcnz6wFQSa-7LXzOI*ItARRbbgifycjdTrRuWIx0iU2Ci9jHlOgwyAvvH/genericprofilepicture.png?width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://atheistnexus.org/forum/topic/listForContributor?user=3j1pdzwrvrlpg&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHumankind's Great Disappointments (Five of Them as I Recall)tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-03-19:2182797:Topic:27939872018-03-19T04:14:23.669ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p>One disappointment was that Earth isn't the center of the universe.</p>
<p>A second was that no god made us in its image.</p>
<p>A third was that we evolved from a "lower" form of life.</p>
<p>A fourth might have been that a subconscious controls us.</p>
<p>I heard of them in college, decades ago, and I might be remembering them wrongly.</p>
<p>Did you hear of them? If so, what do you recall of them?</p>
<p>One disappointment was that Earth isn't the center of the universe.</p>
<p>A second was that no god made us in its image.</p>
<p>A third was that we evolved from a "lower" form of life.</p>
<p>A fourth might have been that a subconscious controls us.</p>
<p>I heard of them in college, decades ago, and I might be remembering them wrongly.</p>
<p>Did you hear of them? If so, what do you recall of them?</p> Social Power Can Be Hurtful. Has Anyone Not Been Hurt By Its Use?tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-03-10:2182797:Topic:27936342018-03-10T21:37:09.715ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p>A single mother told me she would teach her son that power is evil.</p>
<p>Her manner told me someone had hurt her, so I did not ask what kind of power she would use to produce that result.</p>
<p>The shortest dictionary definition I’ve seen: power is the ability to produce a result.</p>
<p>People can use reward or punishment to produce results. They can use knowledge or charisma, Or they can get consent.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Why this discussion?</p>
<p>Theism, and what theists are using to impose…</p>
<p>A single mother told me she would teach her son that power is evil.</p>
<p>Her manner told me someone had hurt her, so I did not ask what kind of power she would use to produce that result.</p>
<p>The shortest dictionary definition I’ve seen: power is the ability to produce a result.</p>
<p>People can use reward or punishment to produce results. They can use knowledge or charisma, Or they can get consent.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Why this discussion?</p>
<p>Theism, and what theists are using to impose their practices on us. They are not seeking consent.</p>
<p>Those who are experiencing the end of the “white xianity” they’ve known will increase their use of the other forms of power.</p>
<p>Some of us need to rebel. Others of us can respond more calmly. To win we will need the energy of those who are rebelling and the planning of those who are calm.</p>
<p>Your thoughts?</p> Judge tosses convicted B.C. polygamists' constitutional challengetag:atheistnexus.org,2018-03-10:2182797:Topic:27935382018-03-10T03:13:54.329ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p></p>
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<h3 class="story-deck">Judge rules against claims by Winston Blackmore and James Oler that polygamy laws are unconstitutional…</h3>
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<h3 class="story-deck">Judge rules against claims by Winston Blackmore and James Oler that polygamy laws are unconstitutional</h3>
<p class="small lighttext"><span class="spaced"><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/cbc-news-online-news-staff-list-1.1294364">CBC News</a></span> <span class="delimited">Posted: Mar 09, 2018 6:59 AM PT</span> <span>Last Updated: Mar 09, 2018 11:17 AM PT</span></p>
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<div class="story-body"><div class="story-content"><p>A judge in British Columbia has ruled that Canada's polygamy laws are constitutional, rejecting the argument from two B.C. polygamists who claimed the law violated their charter rights.</p>
<p>Winston Blackmore and James Oler were <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/1.4218735">found guilty of having multiple wives</a> in B.C. Supreme Court last July. They returned to court to argue their convictions were null because the law itself was unconstitutional under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/polygamy-conviction-bc-winston-blackmore-james-oler-1.4569158">http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/polygamy-conviction-bc-winston-blackmore-james-oler-1.4569158</a></p>
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<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2018/03/09/your-letters-penalize-journalistic-misinformation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penalize Journalistic Misinformation</a></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/is-anchor-butter-contaminated-with-hiv/"></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2018/03/09/your-letters-penalize-journalistic-misinformation.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penalize Journalistic Misinformation</a></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/is-anchor-butter-contaminated-with-hiv/"></a></p>
<p> </p> The Three Happinesses — Money, Power, and Sex — and Religions Try to Take Them Awaytag:atheistnexus.org,2018-03-09:2182797:Topic:27934062018-03-09T09:50:32.897ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p>Back when I was in college and comparing world religions, I might have dallied with Tantric Buddhism for a while. I liked that Tantra held sex to be a spiritual good. But then I found that it too wanted people to give up attachments.</p>
<p>Hell, I had not yet experienced two of the happinesses and wanted more of the third.</p>
<p></p>
<p>What is it with the old farts who make and/or preach religions?</p>
<p>Do they want young folks to not enjoy life?</p>
<p>Or do they want life’s…</p>
<p>Back when I was in college and comparing world religions, I might have dallied with Tantric Buddhism for a while. I liked that Tantra held sex to be a spiritual good. But then I found that it too wanted people to give up attachments.</p>
<p>Hell, I had not yet experienced two of the happinesses and wanted more of the third.</p>
<p></p>
<p>What is it with the old farts who make and/or preach religions?</p>
<p>Do they want young folks to not enjoy life?</p>
<p>Or do they want life’s happinesses for themselves, and turn to alcohol when they fail?</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p> Support to Thru Hikerstag:atheistnexus.org,2018-03-07:2182797:Topic:27933612018-03-07T15:48:23.076ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p>Hi, all</p>
<p><br></br>I am new to this group and this is my first post here.<br></br>OK, with my introduction out of the way, I want to let you all know why I joined this group … actually, why I initially joined this group, because I am now getting inspired to share other ideas as well. But, the reason I initially joined was to share an idea I have for proselytizing atheism or at least promoting atheism in a positive way. Christians and Christian organizations abound in every corner with their…</p>
<p>Hi, all</p>
<p><br/>I am new to this group and this is my first post here.<br/>OK, with my introduction out of the way, I want to let you all know why I joined this group … actually, why I initially joined this group, because I am now getting inspired to share other ideas as well. But, the reason I initially joined was to share an idea I have for proselytizing atheism or at least promoting atheism in a positive way. Christians and Christian organizations abound in every corner with their evangelizing. Some are intentional, and others not so much. An example of the not so much is a YouTube channel that I watch. I am a backpacker and watch a lot of YouTube videos on backpacking. One channel I watch is this guy who interviews backpackers who are thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. I find these interviews to be very interesting and inspiring, except for at the very end of his interview where this guy says “God bless you on your journey” or something to that effect. Is this guy intentionally proselytizing, or is he merely wishing them a good journey, I don’t know, but it bugs the heck out of me every time I hear him say it. Anyway, back to why I’m writing. I am, myself, planning to thru hike the Appalachian Trail. For those who don’t know, this is a 2200 mile hike from Georgia to Maine. There are many trail towns that thru hikers depend on while doing this hike and many “Trail Angels”. Trail angels are people or groups, including many church groups, that give these thru hikers support by giving them free food, rides into town, shelter, and other such things, at the many trail junctions. There are also Hostels at many of the trail towns (towns on or relatively close to the trail) that provide inexpensive lodging and amenities, and a break from trail life. Of course some of these hostels are churches or individual Christians as well. On one of my searches for a hostel in a trail town that I am planning to resupply at, the only option for inexpensive lodging is one of these Christian hostels. It got me thinking that there must be free thinking folks and organizations along the Appalachian Trail that could, if inspired to spread some humanitarian goodness, do so by being “Trail Angels” and/or providing secular hostels and/or shuttle services. There are actually three major long trails where thru hikers depend on “Trail Angels” and hostels: The Appalachian Trail, that goes thru fourteen east coast states; the Pacific Crest Trail that goes from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington; and the Continental Divide Trail that goes from Mexico to Canada through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. There are thousands of hikers that attempt to thru hike these trails every year, and the numbers grow every year. I would think there must be some free thinkers and free thinking / atheist / humanist organizations that reside close to these trails. Providing these services, I think, is one of many ways free thinkers and free thinking / atheist / humanist organizations could be shining a positive light. If any of you want more information on how you could provide these services, let me know.</p> Politics. Where Can People Better Perfect Their Ability to Fool the Innocent (the Naive)?tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-02-24:2182797:Topic:27925812018-02-24T06:44:22.606ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p><b>Donald Trump doesn’t try to conceal his lies. Most politicians do. For one instance of many, JFK.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p>“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”</p>
<p>Who debunks Kennedy better than the GOP, which for most of its history has taken from the poor to give to the rich?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Kennedy did it again with his “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask instead what you can do for your country.”</p>
<p>In the 1787…</p>
<p><b>Donald Trump doesn’t try to conceal his lies. Most politicians do. For one instance of many, JFK.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p>“If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.”</p>
<p>Who debunks Kennedy better than the GOP, which for most of its history has taken from the poor to give to the rich?</p>
<p></p>
<p>Kennedy did it again with his “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask instead what you can do for your country.”</p>
<p>In the 1787 Constitutional Convention, Alexander Hamilton said he wanted the “rich and well born” to govern. Plug his term into Kennedy’s line and we may lose some of our innocence.</p>
<p>“Ask not what the rich and well born can do for you. Ask instead what you can do for the rich and well born.”</p>
<p></p>
<p>I am of course making a case for adding the direct initiative and referendum to the US Constitution and to the constitutions of the thirty two states that do not now have them. What are your feelings and thoughts?</p>
<p></p>
<p>What are some of the lies you know politicians have told? What effects have their lies had?</p> Accelerating Collapse for Personal Gaintag:atheistnexus.org,2018-02-19:2182797:Topic:27923692018-02-19T04:52:37.973ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/donald-trump-tyranny" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Why a Government Run by Oligarchs Is Very Deadly</a></p>
<p>Chris Hedges articulates the dangers of Oligarchy.</p>
<blockquote><span><span style="background: yellow;">Oligarchs</span> care nothing for competency, intelligence, honesty, rationality, self-sacrifice or the common good. They <span style="background: yellow;">pervert, deform and dismantle systems of power to serve their…</span></span></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/donald-trump-tyranny" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why a Government Run by Oligarchs Is Very Deadly</a></p>
<p>Chris Hedges articulates the dangers of Oligarchy.</p>
<blockquote><span><span style="background: yellow;">Oligarchs</span> care nothing for competency, intelligence, honesty, rationality, self-sacrifice or the common good. They <span style="background: yellow;">pervert, deform and dismantle systems of power to serve their immediate interests, squandering the future for short-term personal gain.</span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote><p><span>... once oligarchs take power, rational, prudent and thoughtful responses to social, economic and political problems are ignored to feed insatiable greed. <span style="background: yellow;">The late stage of every civilization is characterized by the sophistry of oligarchs, who ravage the decaying carcass of the state.</span></span></p>
<p><span>Oligarchs use power and ruling structures solely for personal advancement.</span></p>
<p><span>The parts of the state that serve the common good wither in the name of deregulation and austerity. The parts that promote the oligarchs’ power expand in the name of national security, economic growth and law and order.</span></p>
<p><span>Oligarchs look at regulations to protect the environment or the safety of workers as impediments to profit and abolish them. </span></p>
<p><span><span style="background: yellow;">They use the language of patriotism to stoke hatred against their critics and to justify their crimes.</span> They see the world in black and white—those who are loyal to them and those who are the enemy. </span></p>
<p><span>Oligarchs accelerate social, political, cultural and economic collapse. The unchecked plunder leads to systems breakdown.</span></p>
<p><span> In the end, they are overthrown or destroy the state itself. There is no institution left in America that can be called democratic, and thus there is no internal mechanism to prevent a descent into barbarity.</span></p>
<p><span>The longer we are ruled by oligarchs, the deadlier our predicament becomes, especially since the oligarchs refuse to address climate change, the greatest existential crisis to humankind.</span></p>
<p><span>History may not repeat itself, but it echoes. And if we don’t recognize these echoes and then revolt, we will be herded into the abattoirs that tyrannies set up at the end of their existence. [emphasis mine]</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/WMMNJV54lEWfIjHEbMIIYyzye1LsVnEiAx8v01CN2XpMICGhJGN4LHQTZn*91xXP6AXnc6OPoaatKmef-bNaSMXC3lFHAVt8/herde2.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/WMMNJV54lEWfIjHEbMIIYyzye1LsVnEiAx8v01CN2XpMICGhJGN4LHQTZn*91xXP6AXnc6OPoaatKmef-bNaSMXC3lFHAVt8/herde2.jpg" width="450" class="align-center"/></a><a href="http://www.rvisiontv.com/pneumonia-and-diarrhea-affects-in-rohingya-refugee-camp-in-bangladesh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">image source</a></p>
<p>Ravaging the decaying carcass of the United States government for short-term personal gain. Yup. That's what I see happening. Hedges articulates what's happening from a systemic perspective. But his advice to revolt, with "<span>no internal mechanism to prevent a descent into barbarity." Not very helpful. &lt;sigh&gt; I imagine an entirely new social structure based on two-way information flow, where those with most power and money deserve the least privacy. A return flow, as it were.</span></p>
<p><span>"Abattoirs that tyrannies set up" brings to mind Third Reich concentration camps, but the UN says the prison system of North Korea is worse than they were.</span></p> Mandated voting a very bad idea.tag:atheistnexus.org,2018-02-16:2182797:Topic:27919182018-02-16T16:23:46.576ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p> I have seen the subject of mandated voting on the web recently, It makes me shutter. I once was in that camp. I believed that as a U.S. citizen it was one's duty to vote. I have since changed my mind.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The idea sounds great at first. If one lives in a democracy or more appropriately a Representative/Constitutional Republic one should participate in it. There is one major problem with this. It is much like talking to Christians about the bible. In most cases they will have very…</p>
<p> I have seen the subject of mandated voting on the web recently, It makes me shutter. I once was in that camp. I believed that as a U.S. citizen it was one's duty to vote. I have since changed my mind.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The idea sounds great at first. If one lives in a democracy or more appropriately a Representative/Constitutional Republic one should participate in it. There is one major problem with this. It is much like talking to Christians about the bible. In most cases they will have very strong opinions about he Bible. When you actually get to specifics, it is easy to determine they have almost no actual knowledge about the bible.</p>
<p> Few people really pay that much attention to the issues at all. The extent of their knowledge is based on blurbs they have heard on the radio on the way to work. If they are really sophisticated they might watch the news occasionally. They are only familiar with sound bytes from politicians whom do not wish to educate but to sway opinions. These sound bytes come from the media. We are now all familiar with the term "False News."</p>
<p>It takes time and effort to ferret out false news. I am sure I think things are true that are not due to false news, I know I don't even know what they are. Right before actual election day there will be much false news that comes out about everyone at all levels of government. I will give an example. Lets say someone is running or local mayer and it comes out on the internet and newspapers that he has been accused of being a baby raper. No one wants to vote for a child molester, I don't want to. Would it change my mind? No not at all. I know it is probably false news and that he will be cleared. If not I expect him to be held accountable to the full power of the law. The only reason that such tactics are used is that they work. The average person that is not aware of false news or how politics work <em>will </em>change their vote on impulse.</p>
<p>If someone does not keep up with the issues and is not aware of political tactics and the impact of false news, I do not want them voting at all. An uneducated vote is just like the sheeple in the pews that will do whatever the pastor says without thinking. A vote can often be often counterproductive to a community. An uneducated vote is dangerous.</p>
<p></p>
<p> If people do not want to vote or are unconcerned about voting I am very happy for them to stay home. I do not want their impulsive sound byte opinions affecting my life.</p>
<p>Rant complete. </p> Near-Term Technology Threattag:atheistnexus.org,2018-02-12:2182797:Topic:27914782018-02-12T23:47:21.263ZCloset Nigerian Atheisthttp://atheistnexus.org/profile/ClosetNigerianAtheist
<p><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/the-terrifying-future-of-fake-news?utm_term=.dlylz6B9o#.rdElKBXrg" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Infocalypse Now</a></p>
<p>Our near-term AI threat isn't direct military attack, like Terminator movies. We're gripped now by early-stage reality manipulation actions. Some of this c<span>omputational propaganda</span>, like #ReleaseTheMemo, serves those already in power.</p>
<p>In 2016 <a href="http://aviv.me/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Aviv…</a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/the-terrifying-future-of-fake-news?utm_term=.dlylz6B9o#.rdElKBXrg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Infocalypse Now</a></p>
<p>Our near-term AI threat isn't direct military attack, like Terminator movies. We're gripped now by early-stage reality manipulation actions. Some of this c<span>omputational propaganda</span>, like #ReleaseTheMemo, serves those already in power.</p>
<p>In 2016 <a href="http://aviv.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aviv Ovadya</a> warned that "the web and the information ecosystem that developed around it was wildly unhealthy." Core civilization institutions are being upended, what he calls an "infocalypse" is unfolding.</p>
<p><a href="http://api.ning.com:80/files/VWXTMij6LMH3JQTKqXwMcDHwLiC36rvMbKTnh0uyQb8W5k-fbvWrPZjUj8ZE8rIIE70HOSdHuia*TWd6Do065eDISRd9f5nd/Ovadaya.jpg" target="_self"><img src="http://api.ning.com:80/files/VWXTMij6LMH3JQTKqXwMcDHwLiC36rvMbKTnh0uyQb8W5k-fbvWrPZjUj8ZE8rIIE70HOSdHuia*TWd6Do065eDISRd9f5nd/Ovadaya.jpg" width="450" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p>In other words, we're collectively at risk of losing touch with reality. Let me break it into six categories.</p>
<p><strong>Infocalypse</strong></p>
<blockquote>Technologies that can be used to enhance and distort what is real are evolving faster than our ability to understand and control or mitigate it.</blockquote>
<blockquote><p>“At the time, it felt like we were in a car careening out of control and it wasn’t just that everyone was saying, ‘we’ll be fine’ — it’s that they didn't even see the car,” he said.</p>
<p><span style="background: yellow;">Ovadya saw early</span> what many — including lawmakers, journalists, and Big Tech CEOs — wouldn’t grasp until months later: <span style="background: yellow;">Our platformed and algorithmically optimized world is vulnerable — to propaganda, to misinformation, to dark targeted advertising from foreign governments — so much so that it threatens to undermine a cornerstone of human discourse: the credibility of fact.</span> [emphasis mine]</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That's how I feel, like we're in an out of control car and everybody not only thinks we're fine but they don't even see the car. Two out of control variables are erupting, climate destabilization and the attack on science and truth.</p>
<p><strong>Hyperrealistic photo, audio, and video fakes </strong></p>
<blockquote>Already available tools for audio and video manipulation have begun to look like a potential fake news Manhattan Project. In the murky corners of the internet, people have begun using machine learning algorithms and open-source software to easily <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/bjye8a/reddit-fake-porn-app-daisy-ridley">create pornographic videos that realistically superimpose the faces of celebrities</a> — or anyone for that matter — on the adult actors’ bodies. At institutions like Stanford, technologists have built programs that that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmajJTcpNk">combine and mix recorded video footage</a> with real-time face tracking to manipulate video. Similarly, at the University of Washington computer scientists successfully built a program capable of “<a href="http://grail.cs.washington.edu/projects/AudioToObama/">turning audio clips into a realistic, lip-synced video</a> of the person speaking those words.” As proof of concept, both the teams manipulated broadcast video to make world leaders appear to say things they never actually said.<p>Adobe also recently piloted two projects — <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3l4XLZ59iw">Voco</a> and Cloak — the first a "Photoshop for audio," the second a tool that can seamlessly remove objects (and people!) from video in a matter of clicks.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Here's a sample of how video can simulate a real person saying something that's programmed.</p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MVBe6_o4cMI?wmode=opaque" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</p>
<p><strong>Diplomacy manipulation</strong></p>
<p>Already someone could use this technology to throw an election or start a war by releasing false video.</p>
<blockquote><span>There’s “diplomacy manipulation,” in which a malicious actor uses advanced technology to “create the belief that an event has occurred” to influence geopolitics. Imagine, for example, ... Donald Trump or North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, ... near-perfect — and virtually impossible to distinguish from reality — audio or video clip of the leader declaring nuclear or biological war. “It doesn’t have to be perfect — just good enough to make the enemy think something happened that it provokes a knee-jerk and reckless response of retaliation.”</span></blockquote>
<p><strong>Polity simulation</strong></p>
<p> Another scenario, which Ovadya dubs “polity simulation,” is a dystopian combination of political botnets and astroturfing, where political movements are manipulated by fake grassroots campaigns. </p>
<blockquote><span>This summer, more than one million fake bot accounts flooded the FCC’s open comments system to “</span><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/bots-broke-fcc-public-comment-system/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">amplify the call to repeal net neutrality protections</a><span>.” Researchers concluded that automated comments — some using natural language processing to appear real — obscured legitimate comments, undermining the authenticity of the entire open comments system. Ovadya nods to the FCC example as well as the recent </span><a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/04/trump-twitter-russians-release-the-memo-216935" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bot-amplified #releasethememo</a><span> campaign as a blunt version of what's to come. "It can just get so much worse," he said.</span></blockquote>
<p>For details on the latter read <a href="https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/04/trump-twitter-russians-release-the-memo-216935" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How Twitter Bots and Trump Fans Made #ReleaseTheMemo Go Viral.</a></p>
<p><strong>Automated laser phishing is inevitable</strong></p>
<p>Laser phishing is jargon for precisely personalized phishing. Once software spreads making it easy for users to collect detailed data from your social media to generate texts, voicemail and videos which sound exactly like your friends and relatives, people will be overwhelmed. People will turn off their email and watch fantasy.</p>
<blockquote><span>“In the next two, three, four years we’re going to have to plan for hobbyist propagandists who can make a fortune by creating highly realistic, photo realistic simulations,” Justin Hendrix, the executive director of NYC Media Lab, told BuzzFeed News. “And should those attempts work, and people come to suspect that there's no underlying reality to media artifacts of any kind, then we're in a really difficult place. It'll only take a couple of big hoaxes to really convince the public that nothing’s real.”</span></blockquote>
<p><strong>Reality apathy</strong></p>
<blockquote><span style="background: yellow;">Beset by a torrent of constant misinformation, people simply start to give up. Ovadya is quick to remind us that this is common in areas where information is poor and thus assumed to be incorrect. The big difference, Ovadya notes, is the adoption of apathy to a developed society like ours.</span> [emphasis mine]</blockquote>